Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Chicken Run (part one)

I need to "get 'er done". I have a bantam couple lined up to arrive Sunday afternoon. But the chicken run is not anywhere near finished. The husband has been very busy this week so I really don't want to bug him too much. I decided to see how much of this project I can do, myself. No, I don't know anything about putting together a fence...chain link or otherwise. And what I know about tools you can fit on the head of a....well...actually you wouldn't need to put it anywhere. I am clueless. But that's never stopped me. How hard can it be? Guys do it all the time. When I bought the dog run, all I had to go by was the fellow's word, because the run was dismantled and in a little heap on the side of his house. He did provide this lovely picture of what the run was supposed to look like when assembled.To get some kind of an idea how these things go together, I located this nifty video. "Hey, that looks easy", I thought. So this morning I proudly announce to my hubby that I'm going to put my pen together. I just need a 1/2" socket wrench and pliers, like the video said. Well, that would be fine and dandy, if I were putting together the same pen as in the video. But I'm not. Husband set me up with the correct smaller sized socket wrench. OK, I'm ready to proceed. This afternoon, after I got home from work, I set about my task. Here is where the run needs to go. In order to accomplish this, I need to remove that scruffy looking rhodie, located directly behind the little red coop.

I also need to relocate the worm bin (lower righthand corner) and put one of the compost bins down in its place.

The rhodie is now stripped bare. I was going to leave the branches intact, for the chickens to climb on, but it seems rhodies are toxic for birds. I'll have to find a saw and chop it all the way down.

The next step was to flatten out the ground where the run will go. The ground was very uneven. The next picture shows the bottom frame of the pen laid out and the coop turned around the right way, with the door leading into the pen. One of the compost bins has been moved to make room for the frame.

Another view showing how I plan for the ramp to lead down from the coop into the chicken yard.

That's as far as I got, today. I need to consult with the husband because I can't see any way that the gate can swing open. There are no hinges. This, after the seller (who was a pastor, BTW) assured me that all the parts were there and the gate opened and shut. Hmmmm...I don't think so. Looks like I'll have to invest in some hinges for it. Good thing I talked him down from $40 to $25. I'll also need to pick up some more c-clamps and a bunch of wire ties. And, who knows, maybe it does open, and I'm just too dumb to figure out how. It could happen.